Crispin Rovere | Trump Sees the U.S. as a Country Like Any Other

Trump Sees the United States as a Country Like Any Other

by Crispin Rovere | March 24, 2016

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… Trump is no fascist. He’s not even particularly extreme. In fact, it’s Trump’s lack of ideology that most Republicans have a problem with. Trump doesn’t pontificate about the holiness of the constitution, or American exceptionalism, or “freedom.” The real agony the establishment is facing is not that Donald Trump has beaten their preferred candidates; rather, it’s the dawning realization that no one in the world cares about ‘conservatism’, not even GOP voters.

Trump sees the U.S. as a country like any other, albeit a powerful one. His decision-making philosophy seems to be “if it works, and it lasts, then it’s policy.” His platform is that he’ll deliver outcomes.

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Seemingly intelligent people are expressing genuine horror at the prospect of a Trump presidency. The Economist Intelligence Unit puts a Donald Trump presidency in its list of top 10 economic risks, and last week Jane Perlez, chief diplomatic correspondent in Beijing for the New York Times, went so far as to label a Donald Trump presidency “the single most significant threat to global security.”

This is not a correct assessment.

Trump is a Nixon-Kissinger realist. Trump candidly states the Iraq war was an unmitigated disaster, is pragmatic about Russia and Assad in Syria, supports normalizing relations with Cuba, and expects American allies in Europe and East Asia to do more for their own national defense. On all of these subjects, Trump has given reasons as to why.

None of these prescriptions is accepted Republican orthodoxy. In the context of America’s national interest, however, Trump is certainly correct. (Read More)